Edgton

Edgton
Half-timbered houses in Edgton
Edgton
Location within Shropshire
OS grid referenceSO386857
Civil parish
  • Edgton
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCRAVEN ARMS
Postcode districtSY7
Dialling code01588
PoliceWest Mercia
FireShropshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament

Edgton is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.[1] It is also an ecclesiastical parish and a chapelry.[1] It lies in a rather remote and very rural area, south of the River Onny.[2] The nearest market towns are Bishop's Castle, Craven Arms, Clun and Church Stretton, while the larger village of Lydbury North lies a few miles to the west.[1] It is located 4 miles west of Craven Arms and is positioned on the former stagecoach route from London to Bishop's Castle.[2]

The village

The village of Edgton contains 3 farms and approximately 20 dwellings.[3] It has very few services as the school (built in 1872), the shop and the village public house were all closed down.[3] The school is currently used as a pottery.[3] The village is fairly compact as it is centred on the 3 farms and the church.[3]

Edgton is home to St Michael's church which was established in the early 13th century.[4] It was rebuilt in 1895-6 and is now a grade II listed building.[4] Before the church was renovated it had fallen into a state of disrepair. Reverend Jones spent £250 of his own money on the repairs and £50 was contributed from the Ecclesiastical Commission.[3] It is a small and intimate church, containing traditional carved box pews and a recently renovated chamber organ.[5]

Instead of a parish council it has a parish meeting;[6][7] this is due to the very small population of the parish.

Edgton is believed to mean a "settlement on a hill with an edge or brow".[3]

Conservation area

On 16 December 1993, the central part of Edgton was designated a conservation area.[3] Edgton is located within the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[3] The area is made up of a large amount of woodland and arable and pasture land.[3] The natural features of the village such as the mature trees, hedges, stone walls and historic boundaries are very important and need to be preserved.[3]

The following buildings and landmarks are regarded as monuments in the Edgton Conservation Area:[3]

  • The Church of St Michael
  • The Sundial 2m south west of Church of St Michael
  • The pedestal tomb 6m south west of Church of St Michael
  • Manor Farmhouse
  • Church Farmhouse (former malt house)
  • The Barn 5m south east of church Farmhouse
  • The Cowhouse 10m south west of Church Farmhouse
  • The House on the Green (a 1-storey cottage)
  • Edgton Farmhouse
  • Villa Farmhouse
  • Lower House Farmhouse and attached cowhouse

Almost all of these places are Grade II listed to help to protect them.[3]

History

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1801 188—    
1811 210+11.7%
1821 220+4.8%
1831 232+5.5%
1841 214−7.8%
1851 191−10.7%
1881 223+16.8%
1891 185−17.0%
1901 134−27.6%
1911 166+23.9%
1921 132−20.5%
1931 134+1.5%
1951 90−32.8%
1961 86−4.4%
Source: [8]

Edgton was part of Clun registration district, Clun and Bishops Castle registration district, Lydbury registration sub-district and the Purslow hundred.[1] Edgton used to belong to the ancient monastery of Wenlock Priory.[3] The Reverend Humphrey Sandford bought Edgton in 1812 for £235, so this is when it became a state parish.[3] At the edge of the village there is the Anglo-Saxon church, which in the past allowed travellers to rest at night without disturbing the residents.[3] There is a road which runs nearby the village at Edgton Cross, which has a 19th-century milestone showing that London is 154 miles away and that Bishop's Castle is 5 miles away.[3] There are many milestones along this road, which suggests that it was an important access route in the past.[3]

Occupations in Edgton in 1831, males aged 20 and over:[9]
  1. Farmers employing labourers (11.3%)
  2. Farmers not employing labourers (3.23%)
  3. Agricultural labourers (53.2%)
  4. Manufacturing (1.61%)
  5. Retail & Handicrafts (24.2%)
  6. Labourers (non-agricultural) (6.45%)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Unit History". Vision of Britain.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ^ a b "Edgton Village". Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Edgton Conservation Area" (PDF). South Shropshire District Council. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Church of St Michael". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  5. ^ "St Michael's Church of England". The Church of England. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  6. ^ Shropshire Council Map of Local Joint Committee 19
  7. ^ CPALC Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Edgton Parish Meeting – details
  8. ^ "Historical Statistics – Population". Vision of Britain. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  9. ^ "Historical Statistics – Industry". Vision of Britain. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2012.

Media related to Edgton at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.